Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon — John Shaqi
Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of NapoleonVarious
History
Complete Project Gutenberg Collection of Memoirs of Napoleon
Various
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
--[Of Napoleon's poverty at this time Madame Junot says, "On
Bonaparte's return to Paris, after the misfortunes of which he
accused Salicetti of being the cause, he was in very destitute
circumstances. His family, who were banished from Corsica, found an
asylum at Marseilles; and they could not now do for him what they
would have done had they been in the country whence they derived
their pecuniary resources. From time to time he received
remittances of money, and I suspect they came from his excellent
brother Joseph, who had then recently married 'Mademoiselle Clary;
but with all his economy these supplies were insufficient.
Bonaparte was therefore in absolute distress. Junot often used to
speak of the six months they passed together in Paris at this time.
When they took an evening stroll on the Boulevard, which used to be
the resort of young men, mounted on fine horses, and displaying ell
the luxury which they were permitted to show at that time, Bonaparte
would declaim against fate, and express his contempt for the dandies
with their whiskers and their 'orielles de chiene', who, as they
rode Past, were eulogising in ecstasy the manner in which Madame
Scio sang. And it is on such beings as these,' he would say, 'that
Fortune confers her favours. Grand Dieu! how contemptible is human
nature!'" (Memoirs of the Duchesse d'Abrantes, vol. i. p. 80,
edit. 1883.)]--
I could, easily perceive that our young friend either was or wished to be
initiated in some political intrigue; and I moreover suspected that
Salicetti had bound him by an oath not to disclose the plans that were
hatching.
He became pensive, melancholy, and anxious; and he always looked with
impatience for Salicetti's daily visit.
--[Salicetti was implicated in the insurrection of the 20th May
1795, 1st Prairial, Year III., and was obliged to fly to Venice.]--
Sometimes, withdrawing his mind from political affairs, he would envy the
happiness of his brother Joseph, who
had just then married Mademoiselle Clary, the daughter of a rich and
respectable merchant of Marseilles. He would often say, "That Joseph is
a lucky rogue."
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